Tails of Aid

Story by Megan Rogers | Design by Mackenzie Murphy | Photos by Angela Kyle

Within the scope of animals who serve humans, there exist some distinctions. Did you know some animals can be specifically trained to help their owners manage their disabilities? Others can provide comfort to their owners, who may be struggling with mental health.

Service animals and emotional support animals (ESAs) each help their owners in different ways. Facility animals can help the wider community. It is important to recognize these distinctions and understand how these various animals serve their humans.

Timmy

Howie

Howie

Meagan Weiler and Bagel

Service Animals

“[A service animal] is an animal that's trained to do a specific job or multiple jobs for an individual with a disability,” Dayna Stuart, access specialist for CWU Disability Services, says. “They typically will go everywhere with this individual.”

According to Stuart, the only approved service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act are dogs and miniature horses.

Senior special education major Maegan Weiler is blind and has had her guide dog Bagel, a black lab, for a year and a half. Weiler says that Bagel is able to help her navigate around obstacles and locate objects like chairs, curbs, stairs or elevators.

“He has a skill that's called targeting,” Weiler says. "That's when we're going to be at a location over and over again. He is able to memorize that location.”

According to Weiler, she can say the name of the location and Bagel will bring her there. To be able to guide Weiler around, Bagel wears a guide harness. It is made of a strap that goes around the dog’s chest and front legs. Weiler holds onto a handle connected to the back, and Bagel is able to guide her around objects.

Weiler says that it is important not to distract service animals when you see them in public.

“His guiding is keeping me safe,” Weiler says. “If somebody distracts him when we're about to cross the street, then it's really easy for him not to be focused on cars and traffic, so we could even get hit.”

According to Weiler, the certification sites online where people can pay to have a dog become a service dog are not legitimate.

“There's a lot of people who want to get their pet in public, which I understand it's really nice having Bagel in public, but it's definitely necessary,” Weiler says. “It's not like it's a privilege.”

When people bring fake service dogs or pets into non-pet-friendly places, they can target service animals and distract them, according to Weiler.

Weiler says that she has been in situations before with her guide dog where another dog has tried to attack them. Luckily, she has been with people who could step between her and the attacking dog.

“I can't see, so if it had been him and I by ourselves, it might have been different,” Weiler says.

In some instances, if a service dog is attacked, Weiler says that it can put the dog out of its career. Before Weiler got Bagel she used a cane, but because canes are object finders, it was bumpy when walking. With a guide dog, the dog can move around those objects so it is much smoother to move around.

“I do have a disability, which is not fun, [but] he's the best part of having a disability,“ Weiler says. “He makes being blind…just better. I love him so much.”

Emotional Support Animals

Unlike a service dog, which goes through extensive training, an ESA doesn’t require any training.

According to Stuart, “an emotional support animal is an animal that just is living in a person's residence and provides them with emotional [and] mental support.”

Megan Foster, assistant editor at Pulse and senior media and journalism major, has two ESA cats, Timmy and Howie.

Foster says that she moved to Ellensburg during the COVID lockdown and struggled with not knowing anyone in town.

“I had spoken to previous counselors or doctors and they had always mentioned it to me, saying that [an ESA] might help me,” Foster says.

Shortly after moving, Foster adopted Howie, a white and gray Ragdoll, then realized he needed a friend. She then adopted Timmy, who also became an ESA.

According to Foster, her emotional support animals help with her diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder. Foster also says it was hard being away from her family when moving to Ellensburg, but her cats have made a significant impact.

“My cats, one thing that they do for me a lot is to help regulate my anxiety,” Foster says. “Especially Timmy, [he] is very hyper-aware of when it comes on.”

To get approval for an ESA, Foster says she spoke to her primary care doctor and counselor. At the current place she is living, she had to provide her property manager with both the health history of her cats and her own health history.

Foster says that when people have fraudulent ESAs, it can have a negative effect on people who truly need them.

“There's people that are taking advantage of the fact that it is easier to classify an animal as an ESA than it is a service animal and still reap some of those rewards,” Foster says.

Madison VanRavenhorst, academic success coaching coordinator with the Learning Commons, got her ESA cat named Cow, or Cowie, on Aug. 10 of last year.

At the time, VanRavenhorst says she was going through a rough time in her life and talking to a counselor. The counselor suggested that she get an ESA.

Since VanRavenhorst got her cat, it has changed her life and helped it improve a lot. It has also helped put more structure into her life.

"It helps a lot because it gives me the responsibility of keeping another thing alive,” VanRavenhorst says. “So I kind of have to take care of myself a little bit better.”

Facility Dog: Archie

Archie, a yellow lab, joined the CWU police department at the end of May. Archie’s handler and patrol officer for the CWU police department, Mackenzie Erickson, said she has seen an increase in happiness in the department since Archie came.

Archie is a facility dog trained by the organization Dogs for Better Lives. Erickson says that the difference between a facility dog and a therapy dog is the training. Archie is trained to perform tasks for many different people, but a therapy dog doesn’t need that level of training. A service dog is trained to help one person, while Archie is trained to help the community, according to Erickson.

One of the tasks Archie is trained in is deep pressure therapy. Erickson says that Archie will climb into a person's lap and lay there, applying pressure.

“What happens with that pressure, especially if someone is panicking, they will release endorphins and all the good feel-good feelings, which makes people feel better,” Erickson says.

Erickson recalls responding to a call with Archie to assist a victim. When they got there, the person was upset and shaking.

“He just starts petting Archie and he just immediately starts calming down,” Erickson recalls. “He starts remembering the event and what happened prior to the event, which assisted the Ellensburg Police Department with their investigation.”

Follow Archie’s adventures on Instagram @CWU_k9archie.